Does looking at pizza make food taste better?

New research has suggested that food tastes better, simply as a result of the eater looking at an image of a high carbohydrate food such as pizza. Due to the strong link between vision and food perception, scientists have found that volunteers who saw an image of a pizza reported higher levels of enjoyment from food compared to when they were shown images of a low carbohydrate food such as green beans or watermelon.

14 volunteers took part in the research which was conducted by a team from Nestle Research Centre, the Daily Mail reported. The participants were shown quick flashes of images of either a high carbohydrate treat type of food, such as pizza, or images of a low carbohydrate food type such as green beans or watermelon. After being shown the pictures of the food, the volunteers underwent an electric taste test which is a pulse which stimulates the tongue but has no taste.

The volunteers were then asked to rate the taste after the electric test, asking them to base their reaction on levels of pleasantness and intensity. The scientists also took into account brain images which focused on areas related to enjoyment of food when compiling their results.

The results of the study found that those who were shown the images of pizza and high carb foods tended to report higher levels of enjoyment compared to those who were shown the images of fruit and vegetables and other low carb foods.

The results could spell good news for dieters who could use the trick of looking at a desirable food such as pizza or chips to make their healthy and low calorie meal of salad taste better, helping them to stick to their diet in the long run. Do you think this would work for you? Let us know your thoughts by dropping us a comment below.